Swivel connection for conveyors



June 9, 1959 R. F- BOERSMA ET AL SWIVEL CONNECTION FOR CONVEYORS 5Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 2a. 1956 gulll v m m M R. S r E mm E NP 3 T 7h m Y N H J 1 I l R m 2, N 3 4 M 3 m fi m r Y 0 9w 7 mm a o m 3H @R r AN g 7 M June 9, 1 959 R. F.'BOERSMA ETAL SWIVEL CONNECTION FOR CONVEYORS3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed am 2a. 1956 INVENTOR. Richard F. Boersma Roy F LoPresci ATT RNEY June 9, 1959 R. F. BOERSMA EIAL 2,889,913

- SWIVEL CONNECTION FOR CONVEYORS Fi led June 28. 1956 s'sheets-sneet' zFig. INVENTOR.

1 Richard F.' Boersma BY Roy F Lo Presti ATTORNEY United States Patent2,889,913 SWIVEL cornvnc'rrorr FOR CONVEYORS Richard F. Boersma, BlueIsland, and Roy F. Lo Presti, Chicago, Ill., assignors to GoodmanManufacturing Company, Chicago, 11]., a corporation of IllinoisApplication June 28, 1956, Serial No. 594,409 Claims. (Cl. 198-95) Thisinvention relates generally to improvements in endless conveyors and toan improvement in an articulated connection between a pair of cascadingconveyors.

Modern mining practices have been dictating the use of endless conveyorsdisposed in the room behind a continuous miner, the continuous minerdischarging upon the room conveyor, and the room conveyor in turndischarging upon an entry conveyor. It is possible with such continuousminers to mine a room of such width that the discharge boom of the minercannot conveniently reach the inby end of the room conveyor, even thoughsuch room conveyor may be of extensible type and arranged to followclosely the advance of the miner. Accordingly the distance between theoutby end of the discharge boom and the room conveyor is spanned by whatis known as a bridge conveyor.

Since such miners may be operated off to either side of the roomconveyor, a swiveling connection must be afforded between the dischargeboom and the bridge conveyor, and a second swiveling connection mustalso be afforded between the bridge conveyor and the room conveyor. Sucha swiveling connection is especially necessary where the continuousminer is employed for making cross cuts in the rib.

Heretofore such swiveling connections have been provided between theoutby end of the bridge conveyor and the inby end of the room conveyor,but in some cases the amount of swiveling movement has been greatlylimited, and in some other cases the swiveling connection has not beenentirely satisfactory because of its tendency to bind.

Certain types of swiveling connection at the room conveyor include adolly mounted for translational movement longitudinally of the roomconveyor, and as the swiveling angle changes, the dolly moves along theroom conveyor correspondingly. In some cases the continuous miner may beoperating at substantially right angles to the room conveyor, and whenretreating, the swivel joint at the dolly does not provide the properamount of swiveling action with the result that the dolly is forced offthe room conveyor laterally, instead of being shifted translativelythereof.

With the foregoing considerations in mind it is a principal object ofthe invention to provide an improved swiveling connection between abridge conveyor extending between a continuous miner and a gatheringconveyor, said swiveling connection being characterized by providing asmuch as 180 of swiveling movement.

Another object is to provide a swivel connection for a pair of cascadingconveyors, which connection is characterized by freedom from binding orsticking, so that the support structure for the swivel connection mayfreely move translatively along the room or gathering conveyor.

Still another object is to provide a swivel connection between a pair ofcascading conveyors, which swiveling connection will at all timesprovide a component of force longitudinally of the gathering conveyor,so that the sup- 2,889,913 Patented June 9, 1959 ice port for theconnection can freely move longitudinally of such gathering conveyor.

Other objects and important features of the invention will be apparentfrom a study of the specification folloW-.

ing taken with the drawings, which together describe and illustrate apreferred embodiment of the invention, and what is now considered to bethe best mode of practicing the principles thereof. Other embodiments ofthe invention may be suggested to those having the benefit of theteachings herein, and such other embodiments are intended to be reservedespecially as they fall within'the scope and purview of the subjoinedclaims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation View of the head section of an extensibleconveyor having an improved bridging conveyor cooperating therewith,said bridging conveyor having the improvements according to the presentinvention embodied therein;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation view of the tail or inby section of theextensible conveyor, showing the bridging conveyor in position with itsdischarge or outby end in position for discharge onto the extensibleconveyor;

Fig. 3 is'a side elevational view of intermediate framing portions of anextensible belt conveyor of the type where the conveying reach issupported upon the spaced flexible strands;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a bridging conveyor having the improvementsaccording to the present invention embodied therewith, certain partsbeing broken away to show details of the support frame thereof;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation view thereof;

Fig. 6 is a transverse section taken along the lines 6-'-6 of Fig. 4,looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 7 is a section to an enlarged scale taken along the lines 7-7 ofFig. 5, looking in the direction of the arrows, showing details of aswivel connection between the bridge conveyor and the tail section;

Fig. 8 is a view taken along the line 8-8 of Fig. 5, looking in thedirection of the arrows, showing details of rollers mounting the supportdolly of the swivel connection for translative movement at the inby endof the tail adapted for use with an extensible conveyor indicatedgenerally by the reference numeral 20. Such an extensible conveyorincludes an outby or head section 21 mounted for movement on endlesscrawler treads 22, an inby or tail section 23 likewise mounted formovement upon endless crawler treads 24, and intermediate framingsections referred to generally by the reference numeral 26. Theextensible conveyor may be of the type as more completely disclosed inan application of Hardy et' all, Serial No. 541,162, filed October 18,1955, for ExtensibleConveyor, now U.S. Patent No. 2,858,933, issuedNovember 4, 1958. Such a conveyor includes an endless belt having aconveying reach 27 and a return reach 28, the reaches being reversed indirection about an idler pulley 29 at the tail section 23, and alsobeing reversed about an idler pulley 31 at the head section 21, the beltbeingsnubbed tion, the return reach 28 may be reeved about ahiredcluster of idler pulleys 37 and about a movable:

cluster of idler pulleys-38, the distance between the fixed cluster 37and the movable cluster 38 varying in accordance with the distancebetween the head section 21 and the tail section 23:

The extensible conveyor ZO may alsobe of the-type where theconveyingireach 27 is supported. upon spaced flexiblestrands39;thest'rands' 39'being' spanned'at in tervalsiby'troughing rollerassemblies -41, and the strands 39 being-supported at intervals uponstandards 42 having feet 43 resting upon amine'flooror the'like. Thestandards 42 are alsoprovidedwith return idler rollers 44 for guidingthe return reach 28.

The description; thus far is merely for the purpose of showinga"possibleaenvironment for a bridging conveyor referred to generally byreference numeral 45, and seen particularly with reference to Figs. 4and of the drawings;

Refcrringinow' to'FigZ 5 of the drawings, particularly, thebridging:conveyor*45'has its 'inby or material receiving: end'disposedbeneath a discharge boom 46 of a continuous miner, not shown, thedischarge boom 46 having extending longitudinally thereof an endlessconveyor, which may be of chain flight type. The outby end of the.bridging conveyor 45 is arranged to rest upon the inby end of the tailsection 23, and the bridging conveyor 45 has an'endless conveyor beltconsisting of a conveying reach'47 and a return reach 48, whereby theendless belt can convey material-from the dischargeboom 46 to theconveying reach 27 at the inby end of the tail section 23.

The bridging conveyor 45 includes a pair of laterally spaced-side framemembers 49and 51, these being maintained in laterally spacedrelationship by spreader mem hers 52 extending between the'conveyingreach 47 and the return reach 48, see also Fig. 6, and by means of anend spreader53 at the inby end thereof.-

The endless beltconsisting of the conveying reach 47 and the returnreach'48-is reversed in direction about an idler pulley 54 at the inbyend of the bridging conveyor 45, and abouta driving .pulley 56 at theoutby end thereof. The driving pulley 56 is supported upon a dead shaft57 held at each end inbrackets58 supported upon the respective sideframe members 49 and 51. The pulley 56 may be of the type where thedriving motor therefor is wholly enclosed therein, but the pulley 56 maybe driven by means of an hydraulic motor supplied with motive fluid fromeither the tail section 23 or the continuous miner at the working face.

As seen in Fig. 5, the tension in the endless belt is ad justed bymoving the idler pulley 54 upon support blocks 59, the position of thesupport blocks being adjusted by means of a screw 61'. Additionally, thereturn reach 48 may be guided about a snubber pulley 62 extendingbetween the spaced frame members 49 and'51.

Referringnorw to Fig. 6, the conveying reach 47 of the bridging conveyor45 is supported upon a plurality of troughing roller assembliesconsisting of a central load supporting idler. roller 63 and inclinedwing rollers 64, the central load supporting roller being articulatelyconnected at 66 to its adjacent wing roller 64, and the outer end ofeach wing roller beingarticulately connected at a bracket 67 to the topflanges of the side frame members 49 and 51. Details of construction ofsuch a troughing roller assembly may be as shown in an application ofCraggs et al. Serial No. 521,355, filed July 11, 1955, for Rope FrameConveyor and Troughing. Roller Assembly Therefor, now abandoned.

The return reach 48 of the bridging conveyor 45 is guided upon returnidlers 68 support at each end on brackets 69 mounted to thelower flangeof the side frames 49 and 51.

The'inby or material receiving. end of the bridging conveyor 45 is.provided with a material receiving trough or hopper" 71"consisting' ofa. generally conical shaped end portion 72"which-isfl'aired downwardlytoward the conveying-reach 47, the inner edge being continuous with 4.resilient material suchlas rubber 73 to protect .theconveying reach 47against impact. The conical shaped end portion 72 is continuous withsimilar longitudinally extending plates 74 having a rubber apron 76extending therefrom to protect the conveying reach 47 against impact,and also to direct the material discharged at the discharge boom 46 onto the central portion of the conveying reach 47.

The inby end of the bridging conveyor 45 is mounted for swivelingmovement beneath the discharge boom-46, there being a hanger 77extending down from the discharge boom 46 as seen in Fig. 5. The'inbyend of the bridging conveyor 45 has the inby ends of its side frames 49and 51 extending downward as at 78 as seen in Fig. 5, the side framesbeing additionally stiffened by ribs 79. The side frame extensions 78are connected by a plate 81 having a socket member 82 to receive a balljoint 83' mounted at the end of the hanger 77-. Bythe arrangementdescribed" it is possible for the bridge conveyor 45. to have swivelingmovement in vertical'as well as horizontal planes with respect to thedischarge boom 46.

The discharge end of the bridge conveyor 45 has a swivel connection tothe tail section 23 indicated generally by the reference numeral 80. Theswivel connection includes a support dolly 84 having a singleguide-means 96 thereon, see also Figs. 8 to 10 inclusive, which'ismovably mountedto the tail section 23 'by' mounting and' The dolly84'also has guide or second roller elements 83 turning on generallyvertical axes to transmit the thrusts against the dolly 84 into the sideframes 23,- see also Fig. 5.

Thebridge conveyor 45 is provided with a connector means for connectingthe bridge conveyor to the guide means 96 and the connector meansincludes brackets 91 extending'from the outby end thereof to each sideofthe conveying reach 47. Each of the brackets has journaled thereinguided means which includes a swivel block 92 rotatable about averticalaxis as seen more clearly in Fig; 7. The lower end of the swivel block92 receives stub shafts-93 each having freely rotatable thereona-guidero'ller- 94, the two'guide rollers-94 being arranged toengageeach side of the guide means 96 form ing a guidefor the-swivelingmovement of the bridgeconveyor 45.

As seen more particularly in Figs. 9 and 10, the guide means 96 includesa continuous rail having an arcuate intermediate portion 97 disposedgenerally centrally relative to the longitudinal axis ofthe tail section23 and extending generally laterally therefrom with the end portionshaving a slightly more pronounced curvature than the central portion.Each end portion of the arcuate intermediate portion 97 is continuouswith a tangent portion 98, the two tangent portions extendlongitudinally and converge towards each other and terminate inlaterally spaced relationship relative to the tail section 23. As seenin Fig. 7, the rail of the guide means 96 is supported on the dolly 84'by means of a web member 99. A stop 101 is provided at each end of thetangent portion 98 remote from its point of connection to the arcuateportion 97.

As has been described, the bridge conveyor 45- may at times be requiredto swing to a position to either side of the tail section 23. Undercertain conditions an endwise thrust may-be imposed upon the bridgeconveyor through the hanger 77 and such endwise thrust has heretoforebeen suflicient at times to cause the swivel connection at the dischargeend of the conveyor to be displaced laterally of the material receivingconveyor.

Such a possibility is'obviated by. the invention herein, and the guiderneans96 is so arranged that such axial thrust on the bridge conveyor45creates a-com'p'onent" of force to cause shifting of the dolly 84translatively of the tail section 23.

Referring now to Fig. 10, there is shown a condition where the bridgeconveyor 45 is swung to substantially a 90 position with respect to thetail section 23. The rollers 94 engaging the rail of the guide means 96will under such condition operate to furnish the translative componentpreviously discussed. Under such condition the left hand pair of railengaging rollers 94 may be considered as a pivot point, whilst the otherpair to the right operate to provide at such point a (force vector VThis force vector V can be resolved into a component V tangent to theguide means 96 and a translative component V in a directioncorresponding to the longitudinal axis of the tail section 23. Thislatter component is suflicient to cause the translative movement of thedolly 84 to the left, as seen in Fig. 10, and to prevent anydislodgement of the dolly 84 from the rails 87.

As has been explained above, previous forms of such swivel connectionsalso tend to hang, especially when the bridge conveyor is in astraightaway position with respect to the tail section 23. In such typesof swivel connections, the bridge conveyor, instead of swiveling withrespect to the tail section 23 tends to swivel the support therefor,instead of swiveling with respect to the support, thereby dislodging thesupport from its position on the tail section.

In the construction disclosed herein, the rollers 94 are always free toswing on the arcuate portion 97, and once such swinging movement hastaken place along such arcuate portion, the rail engaging rollers 94 arefree to move onto the tangent portions 98.

In the embodiment of the invention shown herein, the swivel connectionconsists of a rail engaged by the laterally spaced pair of rollers. Itis conceivable in another embodiment of the invention, that such a railmay be substituted for a groove of the same general or similarconfiguration formed in a plate or the like, with guide rollers movingin such groove. Whatever the form of the guide for the swivel connectionmay take, the translative vector component previously described willstill be had. Such other forms of a swivel connection are accordinglyintended to be resenved especially as they may be covered by the claimshere appended.

We claim as our invention:

1. A swivel connection for a pair of conveyors arranged in cascadingrelationship to each other to enable one of the conveyors to swingablymove between opposed extreme positions that are each substantiallynormal to the other conveyor, said connection including a dolly havingguide means thereon, mounting means for mounting and guiding the dollyon said other conveyor for longitudinal movement relative thereto, saidguide means including an elongated arcuate portion disposed generallycentrally relative to the longitudinal axis of the said other conveyorand extending generally laterally therefrom with the end portions havinga more pronounced curvature than the central portion thereof, and anelongated tangent portion extending from each end portion of the arcuateintermediate portion with the tangent portions converging longitudinallyof the said other conveyor and terminating in laterally spacedrelationship to each other, and connector means for connecting the saidone conveyor to the guide means, said connector means including guidedmeans carried by the said one conveyor, said guided means being pivotalrelative to the said one conveyor and movably supported by the guidemeans, whereby a thrust on the said one conveyor that is generallylateral relative to the said other conveyor may cause the said movementof the dolly generally longitudinally relative to the said otherconveyor.

2. The connection as set forth in claim 1 wherein said guided meansincludes a pair of swivel blocks journalled on the said one conveyor forrotation about generally vertical axes, and a pair of guide rollersrotatably mounted in opposed relation to each other on each swivelblock, each pair of guide rollers engaging opposed sides of the guidemeans at space intervals therealong.

3. The connection as set forth in claim 1, wherein said mounting meansincludes first roller elements rotatably journalled on the dolly forrotation about generally horizontal axes, said first roller elementsengaging support means disposed generally longitudinally on the saidother conveyor for guiding the dolly during the longitudinal movementthereof, and second roller elements rotatably journalled on the dollyfor rotation about generally vertical axes for engaging a part of thesaid other conveyor to transmit generally lateral thrusts which mayoccur against the dolly to the said other conveyor.

4. A swivel connection for a pair of conveyors arranged in cascadingrelationship to each other to enable one of the conveyors to swingablymove from an intermediate position that is generally longitudinallyaligned with the other conveyor to laterally opposed extreme positionsthat are each substantially normal to the said other conveyor, saidconnection including a dolly mounted on the said other conveyor formovement generally longitudinally relative thereto, said dolly having asingle continuous elongated guide means thereon having only theintermediate portion thereof arcuate, said arcuate intermediate portionbeing disposed generally centrally relative to the longitudinal axis ofthe said other conveyor and extending generally laterally therefrom withthe end portions having a more pronounced curvature than the centralportion thereof, the remaining portions of the guide means beingtangential to the end portions of the arcuate intermediate portion andextending generally longitudinally therefrom and terminating inlaterally spaced relationship to each other relative to the said otherconveyor, and connector means for connecting the said one conveyor tothe guide means, said connector means including a pair of spaced guidedmembers pivotally mounted on the said one conveyor and movably supportedby the guide means, one of said guided members being supported by one ofthe tangential portions of the guide means with the other guided memberbeing supported by the arcuate portion of the guide means when the saidone conveyor is in the extreme positions, whereby a thrust on the saidone conveyor that is generally lateral relative to the said otherconveyor may create a force component to urge the dolly to move in thesaid longitudinal direction relative to the said other conveyor with thesaid one conveyor, in effect, pivoting about the guided member that ison the tangential portion of the guide means with the other guidedmember on the arcuate intermediate portion of the guide means creatingthe desired force component.

5. The connector as set forth in claim 4 wherein said guide means is arigid rail upwardly spaced from and secured to the dolly by a generallyvertically upwardly projecting web.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS315,404 Good Apr. 7, 1885 1,818,168 Smith Aug. 11, 1931 2,214,359Cartlidge May 6, 1941 2,747,721 Long et al May 29, 1956 2,789,682Laskauskas Apr. 23, 1957

